CHICO — When David "Dragonboy" Sutherland received 70 American history books as a gift, he was repulsed.

"I have this sort of sore spot, deep down related to the American way in terms of slavery and what happened to the Native Americans when we basically raped the land," said Sutherland, the owner and coordinator of MANAS Art Space.

Despite his initial distaste for what he assumed would be an inaccurate account of events, the volumes of history became the platform and inspiration for MANAS' current open entry art show, "American Heritage."

About 32 artists were given the book to work from and create original pieces where they found inspiration.

Pages of history were torn out and glued together with what the artist took away from the book. They used stories from the volumes to represent their own historical viewpoints.

Sutherland's perspective on U.S. history slowly began to change as he began reading the journals and realized the books he was in possession of were objective historical journals rather than accounts that glorified a one-sided version of history, he said.

"When you start to read these and you look at them, it's not like that," Sutherland said. "It's individual authors and journalists writing articles of specific times in history and people and places."

Reading through the many passages shifted his perspective on war. Though his prerogative about it is still intact, the narratives enlightened his initial notion.

"It brought me into a place of reflecting American history rather than judging it, and that's kind of what the show is about," Sutherland said.

The range of mixed mediums doesn't embody centuries worth of American history, but they are remarkable. It's not a show coated with red, white and blue, but rather a manifestation of something deeper.

Everyone has their own relations to those stories, Sutherland said. A lot of the artists embraced the Native American heritage of America.

In "The Forgotten," broken pieces of a Navajo pot laid the foundation of a city silhouette made out of pages from a book or newspaper. In the corner of the plywood piece, a sketch of two women look out toward a road leading the way into the city skyline.

Many collages feature images of historical figures like Gen. George Custer and other faces you couldn't name unless you are a fifth-grader or history buff.

A profound black and white photograph depicting a man snorting lines of gold while a tattered American Heritage book sits next to his pile of untouched gold on a glass coffee table. The representation reflects the American of today with the title, "Abusing American Heritage."

An eye-catching piece featuring impressive eagle wings glued together from pages of the hardback span along the propped-up book's spine.

Though the striking images are intriguing, it's the artwork accompanied by heavy text that invite the lingering eye to stay longer.

"There was an element of exploration that occurred that people weren't really expecting," he said. "You know, something that could potentially be didactic. It kind of opened people's perspectives a little bit, which is cool."

"American Heritage" is on display now through May 3 at the art center.